Acts to Look Out For – Born & Bred

We spoke to music blog Rhythmist on who to look out for as the best of grime, dubstep, garage, jungle and hip hop head to Born & Bred festival for a “weekend-long celebration of the present and future sounds of London.”

Bringing together a collection of the UK’s finest urban and electronic artists, the festival is very much geared towards the grassroots of London’s audio culture. Its four stages showcase a mixture of rave-inspired dance music and soundsystem culture, featuring UK garage heavyweights, MC veterans and some of grime’s leading figureheads.

Across its two-day programme Born & Bred spans an impressive cast of live acts and selectors, with a carefully curated line-up chosen to match the celebration of rave culture. To get you in the mood we’ve put together our top 5 artists to catch at the Hackney-hosted festival next weekend.

CALIBRE

Calibre is one of the most unique artists in drum ‘n’ bass, and is someone who’s built a reputation within the genre as a result of his original style and subtlety around making music. He possess an uncommon sensibility for delicate refrains with tracks classically inflected and deeply rooted in groove and soul. His deejaying and mixes epitomise that too, offering an extension of his impeccably constructed take on drum ‘n’ bass. No doubt our favourite artist in the genre, and easily one of the highlights for the weekend.

WILEY

Wiley is the one artist on the weekend who needs little introduction. Not only one of the dominant tastemakers of Grime, he’s also helped the genre garner international recognition, particularly from the likes of Kanye West and Drake, the latter of which said that Wiley “is one of the best to ever do it.” As far as his music is concerned the East-London rapper’s lyrics and flow are uncompromising and unique, unrivalled by very few in the genre.

ZED BIAS

With releases stretching back more than a decade, still to this day Zed Bias has an impressive knack of releasing tracks that sound as on-point and vital as anything you’re likely to find in your record store. Caribbean influences, contemporary house sounds, jazzy syncopated beats, futuristic soul, deep garage grooves – the fragments of influences are vast, and can be heard in neat flourishes throughout his catalogue of music. Expect an eclectic set spanning drum ‘n’ bass, breakbeat, garage, house and techno.

CRAZY COUSINZ

Crazy Cousinz shot to local stardom in the UK with the infectious sounds of Do You Mind featuring Kyla, bringing to life the ill-named ‘funky house’ genre. Pulling in influences as varied as broken beat, African music and US house, with just this one track they conjured a warm house/garage sound full of nostalgia and weekend euphoria. Over the past few years they’ve continued to front the funky house sound with an unmistakable trademark, and their recent Boiler Room excellently highlights their UK influences.

LOEFAH B2B FABIO

On the Swamp 81 stage on Sunday two generations of UK dance innovators will pit their wits together with a back-to-back set. Both artists have had equally significant impacts within UK dance and electronic – Loefah for running the well-revered DMZ and Swamp 81, and Fabio for his massive contribution to UK drum ‘n’ bass – which will make Sunday night a spectacle well worth tuning in for.